Chapter 3: A Proposition

"A bet? Are you serious?"

"Perfectly."

"Go on then. What is it?"

My grandma isn't one to make bets. She says there's no fun to be had when the odds always fall in your favour.

"Give it all up," she says completely losing me.

Bewildered, I ask, "give up what?"

"The money. All of it."

"Why?"

"If it's not there, you won't be second guessing yourself, paranoid that everyone is out for what they can get."

"You're joking? Surely."

"No. Not at all. What better way to vet someone than to actually experience how they will treat you without the wealth and the connections that come with it."

"But…"

It's not like I haven't considered it before but I always thought it was just a pipe dream. One where I go away somewhere, someplace where no one knows anything about me. But it's not real. You can't just pretend to be something you're not.

I can't go around pretending to be poor when I have billions sitting in the bank.

I think Grandma might have lost her marbles. She can't possible be serious but she looks it.

"And how do I do that?" I demand.

"Go work for the company," she says with a sigh.

"I don't want…" I begin immediately but she cuts me off.

"I know it's not what you want but I think it will be good for you."

"Good for me?"

"Yes. I really think it will. You can't run away from who you are. Whether you like it or not, you are my granddaughter and that company will be yours one day."

I open my mouth to speak but she places a hand on my forearm.

"It's part of who you are. The way you were raised, the fact you've wanted for nothing, never known what it is to go without something, it's part of what has made you who you are."

"You can't change that but it doesn't mean you can't spend a little time learning what it feels like not to have everything you need. Perhaps then you might even understand people a little better."

"Are you taking his side?"

"Oh no darling," she shakes her head, "what he did was rotten but not everyone is like that. In fact, most people aren't. I've never known anyone to have such bad luck in relationships."

My tears have dried on my cheeks and they sting slightly as I instinctively smile.

"Bad luck?"

"If not luck then crappy taste in men?"

Laughing, I'm completely dumbfounded to the point of speechlessness. I don't know what to say. I can't decide if she's goading me into accepting her proposition or if she's serious. I mean it's not like she's wrong. I do have crappy taste in men. If I didn't I wouldn't be here b*tching about it.

"How will that help?" I ask, gesticulating wildly with my hands. "Seriously? I'm your granddaughter. Working for you isn't going to suddenly change everything."

"No one at Clancy's Comforts needs to know that."

"What?"

"Look at it as a break from reality. A chance to be someone else."

"Are you feeling okay?" I ask. "We really can't do that, Grandma."

"And why not?"

"I don't know… I'm not even sure it's legal but it's certainly immoral, isn't it? I can't go around pretending to be someone else."

"Sure, you can. Obviously human resources would need to know the truth but everyone else can be kept in the dark for a few months."

"We have the same surname! It's in the company name. Don't you think people will be suspicious?"

"Not if you change it," she says with a shrug.

"Change my name?"

"Well, not legally, darling. Just lie. Tell people it's Foster or Jameson or something."

"You're actually serious." I really can't believe I'm having this conversation. "We live together, grandma."

"Well, obviously you can't stay here. You'd need an apartment or something."

"So what… I just get a job at the company and earn a wage like everyone else? No dividends. Nothing."

"Well, that's the idea isn't it? To be the same as everyone else for a little while."

I find myself nodding along as if I'm actually agreeing to her crazy plan. The words 'I'll think about it' are on the tip of my tongue but I can't bring myself to say them.

"What's in this for you?"

She doesn't even blink. She was expecting the question. Of course, she was. Nothing gets past Eliza Clancy.

"I know when the time comes for you to inherit, there's a real chance that you'll sell up or bring in a management team, but that's not what I want. We might be the biggest interior design and furnishing company in the country, but I pride myself that the massive company I've created is more of a family than a business. I don't want that to end when I give it to you. I want it to matter as much to you as it does to me."

"Is that it? There's nothing else? No hidden motive?"

"Oh, I'm not going to tell you all my secrets, darling," she says with a chuckle.

"Fine. I'll do it."